Day: June 7, 2012

If you are a student, faculty or staff member at Loyola University Chicago, the school’s Information Technology Services is warning you about Russian hackers who have breached the LinkedIn system.

Here is the warning from IT:

Loyola Community,

Because so many faculty, staff, and students of Loyola University Chicago use the LinkedIn social media site, we thought that it would be important to alert you to the following situation. This morning it was reported that 6.5 million encrypted LinkedIn passwords were compromised and posted to a Russian hacker website. If you maintain a LinkedIn account, it is strongly suggested that you log in and change your password as soon as possible. To change your LinkedIn password, follow these steps:

Click on your name in the upper right corner and then click on the link for Settings

Click on the “Change” link next to Password

You will be prompted to enter your old password and create a new one. Here are some tips for secure password creation:

Use at least 8 characters…the longer the better!

Use at least 3 of the 4 character types, including lower-case alpha (abc), upper-case alpha (ABC), numbers (123), or special (%+>~)

Do not use words that can be found in a dictionary

Do not include your personal information, user ID, or the name of the website

Click on the Change Password button.

We highly recommend that you also change your password for any other website accounts that use the same e-mail address and password combination. In the aftermath following this incident, please also be wary of phishing attacks and spam that may aim to collect your username and password or install malware on your computer. Do not give your password to anyone and do not click on suspicious links in e-mail messages.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this incident, please contact the ITS help desk at 8.4ITS (on campus) or 773.508.4487 (off campus). ITS is here to help!